


Enemies, right?

by Late



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Fluffy Ending, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Near Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 13:13:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7846462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Late/pseuds/Late
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zim has a realization, while Dib is left clueless, until he finds the other in a bad position.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enemies, right?

It was a late august evening, the leaves crunching under heavy footsteps, It was the usual; Zim denied that he had an evil plan, some bickering, then a chase ensues. Though you could imagine Dib's surprise when the tables had been turned. It was Zim chasing him this time round. And... he was having fun. Hasn't ran like this in forever and not been trying to get something from his arch nemesis. His heartbeat was rapid, pounding against his ribs with each footfall. But eventually, Zim just stopped. Dib ran a bit further before noticing, turning around to see the alien staring off into space, almost unaware that there was a chase going on. So he walked back tentatively, making sure he hadn't just had a PAK malfunction. No; he was standing still for a reason. Tears. But, Zim never cried. Or cried while smiling.

"Uh, hey... Zim?"

He was barely responsive, casting a mere glance to the one speaking, then looked down to the ground.

"Dib... what are we?"

This question puzzled Dib immensely, as he thought it had always been clear.

"Enemies, right?"

Zim's expression faltered at that, the tears stopping as he looked back up.

"Ah,yes. Of course. I'm the threat to your planet, and you stand in the way of my mission. Enemies... alright."  
"No, not alright. Why did you stop running, just to ask that question?"

Now, this answer was a bit more complicated. Zim had so many reasons running through his head at the moment, but the one that came to the forefront of his mind was Dib. He saw that Dib was having fun, and realized that perhaps, the chasing was more than just 'Give it back!' 'Not unless you catch me!' It always started like that, but it felt like more. Much more, on his end. But maybe Dib didn't notice it, or just didn't feel the same.

"No reason. You want to keep running?"

It was very strange, but Dib agreed, turning back to continue his original pace, Zim swiftly following after. Yeah, no reason at all.

\-----------------------

A few days later, Zim had stopped coming out. Never left the house, or came to skool. And Dib was getting very worried. Deciding to pay a little visit to the green monster, he started to sneak through the front yard, but tripped and was clearly in sight of the gnomes - and yet, they didn't shoot him. Now this was disconcerting. With a little knock at the door, he saw that Gir answered it right away, seeming less than his usual hyper self.

"Gir, where's Zim?"  
"Master, he, uh... got real sick. B-But Mary come to make him feel better? Mary, you gotta help! Little Jimmy's gonna DIEEEE!"

Dib sighed, looking into the house as Gir rambled on. It looked as though no one lived here, except for the near pristine toilet. Pushing past the insane robot, he headed straight for that toilet in the kitchen, flushing himself and waiting for the computer to take him to see Zim. Was he really sick?

\-----------------------

The Tallest had called him the day before that previous chase, telling him their real plan.

"You're a burden, Zim. Earth is your place of exile."  
"Yeah, and we chose it because there's so much stuff there that could kill you."  
"But, sadly, you can't seem to just-"  
"Die."  
"Yeah, that. So, we're cutting off all communications to the planet, and taking away your ship. You'll never be able to leave Earth now."  
"And no more weapons, or orders for weapons, cause we're not gonna send any."  
"Or doughnuts."  
"Yeah, no doughnuts either. The good ones."  
"Well, have a fun time on what we're now calling the prison planet!"  
"Now Red, that's just mean!"  
"No it isn't. You're mean."  
"...yeah, yeah I am. So are you."

Then the call ended. Just like that. It was probably just a recording anyway, cause his ship had self-destructed the day before it had sent. And after that, he fell into a silent depression. Showing no real signs of anything serious on the outside, he chased after Zim, feeling something he couldn't understand. Seeing Dib happy gave him this warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest, and a little bit lightheaded but that's irrelevant. So once Dib said they were still enemies, he knew it was over. He had nothing. Gir, while sometimes cute and helpful, was constantly insane and scared him a little. The computer wasn't programmed for affection, but apparently downloaded sarcasm at some point, so he was of no use. No friends here on earth, no Tallest. The only one he could turn to was Dib, and now that door was closed forever. Might as well leave himself to rot.

\-----------------------

Once Dib got to the floor that Zim was on, the bottom one, his jaw dropped. The alien lay in his chair, curled up and looking deathly ill. God, it was awful. He ran over right away, trying to find some way to help, but his efforts only seemed to hurt him more.

"Zim, why would you do this!? Come on, wake up!"

Hardly any response. He was barely breathing, and his eyes wouldn't open. But he was speaking. Sort of; it was mostly in irken. But he could just barely understand it. 'Let me go. You hate me, I have no use.'

"But, Zim... you have plenty of use. And I don't-... I don't hate you. You're the only one who understands me."

Now this surprised Zim to hear. No hate? But, they were enemies, how..? He groaned softly, pointing to a small cup-like thing on the desk, which Dib grabbed quickly to hand it over. Zim eagerly drank what he could, opening his eyes a tick to get a look at the human's face. Concern. True concern was in the other's expression. With a slight smile, he leaned forward as much as he could with the last remaining dregs of his energy to whisper something to Dib.

This little thing was all he needed to hear. Dib carefully picked him up, walking back to the elevator and requesting he be sent back to the ground floor.

\-----------------------

Gir was still up there, talking to himself through a purple octopus doll. While Dib set Zim down on the couch, he was about ready to put that doll in a waffle iron, but it was Zim. His master was out! So he rushed to their side, staring at Zim curiously. He looked like a corpse already, and kinda smelled like it, mixed with years of craft glue. Dib raided the fridge and looked for the things Zim requested, a slight blush on his cheeks. Gir watched as Dib mixed the ingredients together, patiently waiting until he could eat it.

"...youuuuu gonna make waffles?"  
"No, Gir, I'm not making waffles. I'm making Zim get better."

Very defiant in his explanation, he brought the strange smelling concoction to the couch, helping spoon it into the alien's mouth. He couldn't understand three quarters of the irken language, but he understood what Zim had told him earlier, and the thing he knew right now was that Zim needed to get better.

'I love you.'

That was all it took to have Dib start nursing Zim back to health and questioning where his loyalty lied.

**Author's Note:**

> okay, quick thing. i wasn't looking at spelling or punctuation, so if there's any mistakes, feel free to comment and let me know. and this is a short drabble of a story i've had in my mind for quite a while. i would flesh it out more, but i'd rather just get it out there, if for nothing more than practice and feedback. hope nothing was too OOC.


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